Roommate receives 15-count indictment for Tyler Clementi’s suicide

The roommate of the Rutgers University freshman who committed suicide last year after an intimate encounter with another man was broadcast online, received a 15-count indictment on Wednesday for his alleged actions that led to the death of Tyler Clementi.

Dharum Ravi

On Sept. 22, just days after the video was broadcast, Clementi committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge. He was 18 years old.

The defendant, Dharun Ravi, 19, of Plainsboro, faces two counts each of invasion of privacy and attempted invasion of privacy, offenses that carry penalties of up to five years in prison, [Middlesex, NJ, County] Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan said in a statement today.

Also, Ravi was indicted on two counts of second-degree bias crimes and two counts of third-degree bias crimes. A grand jury also charged Ravi with three counts each of tampering with evidence and hindering his own apprehension, and a single count of witness tampering, the prosecutor said.

Grand jurors found Ravi attempted to mislead investigators and witnesses in various ways, Kaplan said. He said the grand jury determined Ravi deleted a post on Twitter that alerted others to view Clementi and another man during their second encounter in a university dorm room on Sept. 21, 2010.

Tyler Clementi

Ravi, and another student, Molly Wei, allegedly placed a camera in Clementi’s dorm room and streamed the images onto the internet on Sept. 19.

“The grand jury indictment spells out cold and calculated acts against our son Tyler by his former college roommate,” said Joseph and Jane Clementi, in a statemenet issued by their attorney.

“We are eager to have the process move forward for justice in this case and to reinforce the standards of acceptable conduct in our society,” the Clementi’s said.

Wei, 19, was also charged with two counts of invasion of privacy in relation to the case, prosecutors said, but her case has not yet been presented to the grand jury.